World champion Mathieu van der Poel (BKCP-Corendon) handed a blow to his rivals two weeks ahead of his rainbow jersey defence. With one fierce acceleration in the fifth of eight laps he decided the sixth round of the World Cup. With a wheelie at the finish the 20 year-old completed a flawless solo ride, capturing his third World Cup win in a row. When climbing up the podium in Lignières, France the winner – who turns 21 on January 19 – received a big hug from grandfather Raymond Poulidor.

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“It was something special to celebrate. I had one really good acceleration. It was enough to get the win,” Van der Poel said.

Despite a troubled start Van der Poel patiently managed to work his way through traffic. Once he reached the front of the race he set off to the victory. “It was a hard race. I got boxed in at the start. I had to come from far. I couldn’t ride my own line because there were some guys ahead of me. It was a bit frustrating at the beginning. I just took it easy. I rode my tempo from the beginning to the end. I saw the guys in front sticking together. I knew the tempo wasn’t high enough. I rode my own tempo to the front. It was quite easy to come back.”

In the World Cup standings it was runner-up Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Vastgoedservice) who won the battle with European champion Lars van der Haar (Giant-Alpecin). The World Cup leader managed to shake off the Dutch rider in the final lap, and increased his lead over Van der Haar in the standings with five points up to 21 points.

“The gap isn’t huge but today I did a good job,” Van Aert told Telenet Play Sports. During the first half of the race Van Aert controlled the race, always riding in the top three. The first accelerations from Van der Haar and Laurens Sweeck (Era Real Estate-Murprotec) didn’t cause too much damage. Halfway into the race there were still eight riders left in contention for the victory: Van der Poel, Van Aert, Van der Haar and Tom Meeusen (Telenet-Fidea), Laurens Sweeck, Sven Nys (Crelan-AA Drink), Kevin Pauwels (Marlux-Napoleon Games) and home rider Clément Venturini (Cofidis).

When Van der Poel moved to the front in the fifth lap all alarms went off. Van der Haar and Van Aert were attentive and marked his wheel. Meeusen was the rider in fourth place. At the first technical short off-camber climb Van Aert slid out sideways and the two Dutch riders blasted away.

“The sensations were good but I made too many mistakes on the technical sections," Van Aert told Telenet Play Sports. "My pedals were troubling me and I switched bikes. That’s when Mathieu attacked. Quickly it was clear that we were riding for second place. I tried to keep the pressure on but without a mistake from Mathieu he would be the deserving winner. I’m happy with the race. You can’t win everything.”

Van der Poel soon dropped Van der Haar, and the race was decided. Van Aert managed to work his way back up to Van der Haar but the other Belgian riders and Venturini were not able to make up any ground. In the closing laps Van der Poel pleased the crowd at the ‘Horse and Donkey Center’ by flicking his rear wheel sideways at the fly-over. His wheelie at the finish line was the icing on the cake. Van Aert put Van der Haar under pressure in the final lap and on a long straight-forward section the Belgian rider blasted away.

“It’s a bummer that I had to let go of both Van der Poel and Van Aert. Luckily there are two more weeks left ahead of the World championships to work on my accelerations,” Van der Haar told Telenet Play Sports.

Kevin Pauwels won the battle for fourth place ahead of Meeusen, Sweeck and a frustrated Nys. The latter stated that he struggled in the technical sections where he excelled as a young rider. Gianni Vermeersch (Marlux-Napoleon Games) beat Venturini in the sprint for eighth. U23 World champion Michael Vanthourenhout (Marlux-Napoleon Games) had a bad start, worked his way back to Vermeersch but then got dropped in the closing laps and finished tenth.

Next week the final round of the World Cup is held in Hoogerheide, Netherlands.

Full Results

#

Rider Name (Country) Team

Result

1

Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP - Corendon

1:00:50

2

Wout Van Aert (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team

0:00:13

3

Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Team Giant - Alpecin

0:00:17

4

Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

0:00:45

5

Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

0:00:56

6

Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era - Murprotec

0:01:01

7

Sven Nys (Bel) Crelan-AA Drink

0:01:03

8

Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

0:01:10

9

Clément Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits

10

Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

0:01:26

11

Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

0:01:42

12

Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team

0:01:57

13

Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

14

David Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP - Corendon

0:01:58

15

Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

0:02:20

16

Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

0:02:31

17

Diether Sweeck (Bel) Era - Murprotec

0:02:36

18

Marcel Meisen (Ger)

0:02:40

19

Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

0:02:45

20

Simon Zahner (Swi)

0:02:49

21

Stan Godrie (Ned) Rabobank Development Team

0:02:56

22

Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

0:03:01

23

Jeremy Powers (USA)

0:03:09

24

Vincent Baestaens (Bel) BKCP - Corendon

0:03:13

25

Rob Peeters (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team

0:03:15

26

Sascha Weber (Ger)

0:03:16

27

Lukas Fluckiger (Swi)

0:03:19

28

Twan Van Den Brand (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels

0:03:40

29

Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo - Vital Concept

0:03:59

30

Ismael Esteban Aguando (Spa)

0:04:03

31

Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa)

0:04:05

32

Miguel Martinez (Fra)

0:04:12

33

Severin Saegesser (Swi)

0:04:36

34

Lukas Winterberg (Swi)

0:04:39

35

Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) Era - Murprotec

0:04:42

36

Michael Boros (Cze) BKCP - Corendon

0:04:49

37

Niels Wubben (Ned)

0:05:06

38

Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP - Corendon

0:05:11

39

Ian Field (GBr)

0:05:14

40

Jens Vandekinderen (Bel)

0:05:16

41

Cristian Cominelli (Ita)

0:05:19

42

Alois Falenta (Fra)

0:05:28

43

Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa)

0:05:29

44

Nicolas Samparisi (Ita)

0:05:32

45

Michael Van Den Ham (Can)

0:05:33

46

Andreas Moser (Swi)

0:05:49

47

Garry Millburn (Aus)

0:06:24

48

Julien Roussel (Fra)

0:06:34

49

Ludovic Renard (Fra)

0:06:46

50

Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita)

51

Aaron Schooler (Can)

52

Inigo Gomez Elorriaga (Spa)

53

Mark Mcconnell (Can)

54

Asier Arregui Dominguez (Spa)

55

Matej Lasak (Cze)

56

Yu Takenouchi (Jpn)

57

Michal Malik (Cze)

58

Philipp Heigl (Aut)

59

Wolfram Kurschat (Ger)

World Cup standings

#

Rider Name (Country) Team

Result

1

Wout Van Aert (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team

406

pts

2

Lars Van Der Haar (Ned) Team Giant - Alpecin

385

3

Kevin Pauwels (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

356

4

Sven Nys (Bel)

351

5

Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP - Corendon

305

6

Laurens Sweeck (Bel) Era - Murprotec

271

7

Tom Meeusen (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

266

8

Toon Aerts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

234

9

Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) Era - Murprotec

227

10

Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

226

11

Corne Van Kessel (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

218

12

Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

213

13

Tim Merlier (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team

210

14

Thijs Van Amerongen (Ned) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

197

15

Michael Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

190

16

Clément Venturini (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits

188

17

Michael Boros (Cze) BKCP - Corendon

178

18

Diether Sweeck (Bel) Era - Murprotec

172

19

Stan Godrie (Ned) Rabobank Development Team

170

20

Vincent Baestaens (Bel) BKCP - Corendon

168

21

Jim Aernouts (Bel) Telenet Fidea Cycling Team

166

22

Rob Peeters (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team

158

23

Niels Wubben (Ned)

153

24

Simon Zahner (Swi)

151

25

Jeremy Powers (USA)

143

26

Marcel Meisen (Ger)

137

27

Ian Field (GBr)

127

28

Steve Chainel (Fra)

115

29

Marcel Wildhaber (Swi)

115

30

Jens Adams (Bel) Crelan-Vastgoedservice Continental Team

114

31

David Van Der Poel (Ned) BKCP - Corendon

103

32

Sascha Weber (Ger)

103

33

Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga Ibanez (Spa)

100

34

Francis Mourey (Fra) Fortuneo - Vital Concept

89

35

Jens Vandekinderen (Bel)

88

36

Radomir Simunek (Cze) Era - Murprotec

83

37

Philipp Walsleben (Ger) BKCP - Corendon

82

38

Severin Saegesser (Swi)

73

39

Ismael Esteban Aguando (Spa)

70

40

Lukas Winterberg (Swi)

62

41

Twan Van Den Brand (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels

58

42

Stephen Hyde (USA)

56

43

Mariusz Gil (Pol)

45

44

Martin Haring (Svk) Dukla Banska Bystrica

44

45

Lukas Fluckiger (Swi)

41

46

Ryan Trebon (USA)

39

47

Vojtech Nipl (Cze)

39

48

Travis Livermon (USA)

38

49

Adam Toupalik (Cze) BKCP - Corendon

34

50

Dieter Vanthourenhout (Bel) Marlux-Napoleon Games Cycling Team

32

51

Curtis White (USA) Rally Cycling

31

52

Nicolas Samparisi (Ita)

31

53

Michael Van Den Ham (Can)

30

54

Fabien Doubey (Fra)

29

55

Adam Craig (USA)

29

56

Andreas Moser (Swi)

29

57

Josep Betalu (Spa)

27

58

Jeremy Martin (Can)

27

59

Tomas Paprstka (Cze)

23

60

James Driscoll (USA)

23

61

Alois Falenta (Fra)

22

62

Lubomir Petrus (Cze)

21

63

Miguel Martinez (Fra)

19

64

Gert-Jan Bosman (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels

19

65

Daniel Summerhill (USA) Unitedhealthcare Professional Cycling Team

19

66

Vladimir Kyzivat (Cze)

18

67

Kenneth Hansen (Den)

18

68

Derek Zandstra (Can)

15

69

Matej Lasak (Cze)

14

70

Mark Mcconnell (Can)

14

71

Gusty Bausch (Lux)

14

72

Ole Quast (Ger)

13

73

John Gadret (Fra)

13

74

Brian Matter (USA)

13

75

Aaron Schooler (Can)

12

76

Michael (Jr) Schweizer (Ger)

11

77

Lachlan Norris (Aus) Drapac Professional Cycling

11

78

Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita)

11

79

Cristian Cominelli (Ita)

10

80

Vincent Dias Dos Santos (Lux)

10

81

Allen Krughoff (USA)

10

82

Michal Malik (Cze)

10

83

Craig Richey (Can)

9

84

Garry Millburn (Aus)

9

85

Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Spa)

8

86

Lars Boom (Ned) Astana Pro Team

8

87

Ondrej Bambula (Cze)

8

88

Dan Timmerman (USA)

8

89

Marco Bianco (Ita)

7

90

Kerry Werner (USA)

6

91

Jack Clarkson (GBr)

5

92

Yu Takenouchi (Jpn)

5

93

Patrick Van Leeuwen (Ned) Cyclingteam Jo Piels

4

94

Julien Roussel (Fra)

3

95

Maximilian Holz (Ger)

3

96

Geoff Kabush (Can)

3

97

Ludovic Renard (Fra)

2

98

Michael Wildhaber (Swi)

2

99

Christopher Aitken (Aus)

2

100

Antonin Marecaille (Fra)

1

101

Robert Marion (USA)

1

102

Tobin Ortenblad (USA)

1

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